Wisconsin Cheese Soup

This recipe is for one of your employees, and my daughter Jodie Parks. This was always her favorite soup when I worked at the Feed Store in Springfield IL.

Ingredients

6 cups beef broth

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 Tablespoons green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon dill

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

4 ounces beer

White Sauce:

5 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter

3/4 to 1 cup flour

14 ounces cheddar cheese

1 1/3 cups whipping cream

Yield

1 gallon or 14 servings

Instructions

Put beef broth into a stockpot and bring to a boil. While it's heating, chop onion, green pepper and celery. Add to stockpot as broth begins to boil. Measure and add spices and Worcestershire sauce to stockpot. Stir thoroughly, add beer. Adjust heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 30 to 40 minutes. While broth mixture is simmering, grate cheese and set aside. When broth has simmered for 30 to 40 minutes, turn heat to low, keeping the pot on the burner.

Begin making the white sauce:
Melt butter in pan large enough to contain all of the finished soup (including milk, cheese and broth). Put milk into another pan and place on high heat to bring to a boil.
Be sure the butter has time to melt before the milk boils.
When the butter has melted, keep on low heat and gradually mix the flour into it with a wire wisk. This mixture is called the roux. Add more flour as needed to make a thicker roux.

Cook for a minute or two on low heat (till roux bubbles slowly),and remove from the burner. As milk comes to a boil, pour into roux all at once. Beat vigorously with a wisk. As the sauce begins to thicken, start adding the grated cheese, a little at a time, and beat it into the sauce as it melts. Continue to beat for three to four minutes to yield a smooth, creamy white sauce.

Carefully add the broth mixture to the white cheese sauce and mix thoroughly. Add the whipping cream and the soup is ready to serve.